It was a fine day in Gaera when the letter arrived at several doorsteps.

It was packaged plainly, with no return address in sight. The paper itself appeared run-of-the-mill. A writing style suspiciously similar to Kelne's graced said paper...

To whom it may concern,

I wish to meet those who were involved in the battle with the beings that called themselves 'Fencer-jin'. A number of updates have come up concerning both the beings themselves and where they may be headed next, and I wish to discuss such issues at length at a meeting place of my choosing.

I regret to also note for those not previously involved, that two people, one by the name of Astrynax, and the other Erech, were killed in the battle. For whatever reason, it has proven impossible to revive them. I believe I know why. As noted above, however, you must meet with me to learn more.

I will meet you at the entrance of the Jade Dragon Inn. We will go from there to my own home. Be prompt.

His counterpart looked unsurprised to see him arrive, and nodded to him as he approached. "There's never a restful moment here, it seems. Somewhat ironic that the Infinity Corporation was much less eventful.

On that note, it'd help if you informed me what the precedence of each of our objectives is, considering I don't know the people involved as well as you do."

A biege furred garoujin entered just behind Kelne, guide a dark haired woman, Athletic and trench coated, by the hand. Her face and skin pins her as Valthi. Maxwell wears an open gray trench coat and blue denim pants, as well as a pair of black combat boots and a gun vest. Someone's a valthi fanboy.

Maxwell's face is absolutely livid. He's actually emitting a low, dog-like growl! Karin in the mean time doesn't look much better. She's not cursing yet, but then again she only just got in the door...

Karin glanced in his vague direction, though her eyes were not visible beneath her dark shadesâ€” they hid her eyes, though the white cane she tapped appeared to guide her more than they did. Maxwell's guiding hand was also more than slightly useful in keeping the woman from crashing into things.

"Thank you," she replied curtly to the Anti-Minion. The sharp edge in her voice wasn't specifically directed at him, but she still looked agitated.

Kylitos was hesitant to attend in the first place, but his seemingly ever-present senses of curiousity and justice coerced him into thinking otherwise. The small white bird perched on his shoulder only added to the effect, with occasional chirps of "You know you have to. And you know that you're going to."

Paper was always correct, in some sense. This did not stop Kyle from wondering why he needed to be involved.. It's like a snowball, as he sees it. He gives a little push here, a shove there, and before you know it, he's involved with all sorts of demon-haltings and off-worldly heroics. And the more he helps accomplish, the more notorious he becomes as a 'Hero', which is especially bad when people start singling him out as a 'Prime-Target'.

Which is how this whole Fencer-jin mess seems to have started. Which is why he feels it is his job to take some responsibility. Which is why he prays to himself that things will work out, and that he can finally rest for a long while after whatever is done.

So, at the good ole' Jade Dragon, our grey-coated fencer arrives, with his small white birdy companion perched atop his head, chirping a lovely speech about Kyle's hilarious sense of responsibility.

"Hello, everyone." says the former, as the latter seems to bow, in a rather cute way.

The Anti-Kelne glanced over Karin and Maxwell briefly, seemingly taking in their rather obvious states of mind before looking over to Kyle (and Paper).

"Ah, Kyle. Good to see you've come. I take it your injuries were dealt with rather quickly. Try not to settle while we are here, though, as we will be departing as soon as those who wish to come arrive."

He pulled a pocket watch out of nowhere and glanced at it briefly before returning it to nowhere. "I'd hazard to guess we'll have a few more visitors joining us... if any of you have any minor questions to field, you may ask. More indepth answers will have to wait until we make our way to our true location."

Kelne shrugged, taking in the arrivals. "It's your show, really. I know the basic details, but that's about it. And as far as knowing the people involved, so far I know precisely one." He smiled faintly, "Though I can make an educated guess on who we're waiting on."

"There is one thing you might want to consider though," he remarked, "And that's the issue of a name. Otherwise, it's going to get either confusing for others or annoying for you fast."

"We'll cover it all in greater depth once we arrive at our proper location, anyhow." The Anti shrugged his shoulders slightly as he gave the small group of Kyle, Paper, Karin, and Maxwell a once-over. "We are due to receive a few more people, but I can't be entirely certain that they'll arrive. They'll only get so much time, as it stands."

He paused on the issue of a name, and nodded thoughtfully. "Do you have any suggestions, in particular? I do seem to find the name 'Justin' appealing, for some reason..."

The newly rechristened JUSTIN nodded and checked that watch yet again. "Well, then. Apparently our other guests won't be arriving, so I suggest we begin moving. Hoy, you two." He pointed to the two Anti-Minions. "Go about fetching the... anti-anti-gravity chair."

"Okay, boss!" They both nodded and ran off, leaving JUSTIN to once again hide his watch. "This will take but a moment."

"W-wait...W-w-wait!" A recognisable voice sounded from outside- That of a young girl. She ran in, her hair a mess and her purple robes slightly ruffled. She took a minute to catch her breath, then asked- "...A-Am I l-late?"

"Ah, Janda. So nice of you to arrive on time." Justin seemed a bit annoyed at the late arrival, but he didn't say much. "Since you've just now arrived, would you be so kind as to sit on the Anti-Anti-Gravity chair first?"

He indicated with the wave of a hand. The seat very much resembled an old fashioned electric chair, so it obviously looked a bit dangerous to the angel girl...

***

MEANWHILE...

Through space, there flew a little space pod. Inside this space pod, there was a person. This person, while bearing healing, was totally and completely exhausted, and he was still aching and paining here and there. He had departed from Gaera some time ago, and had fallen into a state of uneasy rest since then...

His dreams were vivid and nightmarish... he kept picturing his duel with Kyle before, except for the fact that Kyle was suddenly even faster than before.

Manta was barely able to keep up with Kyle's attacks as the duel cemented the weaker Fencer's clear superiority in terms of skill.

Manta found himself assaulted at all sides, then, by the angel girl Janda, by that goddamned dragon Ara, and that Druid Sorune. They were all attacking him! The fucking insects... they were weaker, far weaker than he, yet they managed to overpower him in the end! To trick him and avoid the deaths they clearly deserved!

The fools! The insufferable, idiotic Gaerans! He would not let this continue! He would not...

He awoke in a cold sweat from there, shaking his head slightly as his pod came down to land on a random spaceport stretch. A polite robotic voice toned out, "Asrico Dominion #332" as his spacepod opened.

He took one or two steps out before collapsing, and a few minions came and lifted him up. "Asrico said to take Master Manta to a Rejuvenation Chamber once he'd arrived! Let's hurry!"

-

It wasn't long before Manta found himself awakening within the confines of a splishy, sploshy tube. He looked outside to see the familiar sight of the Rejuvenation Center... an area where all of Asrico's warriors retreated to for healing of their wounds if the need called for it. He noted his coat hanging just outside the chamber, with rapier attached, and he knocked against the front ever so slightly.

A doctor of sorts, dressed in the same minion clothing as the others, opened the chamber, allowing Manta to step forth, shaking himself slightly.

"Here is your towel, Lord Manta." The doctor politely muttered, as he gave the fencerjin a long white towel with the red words "I Hate Scrum" embroidered on it.

"Mph." Manta muttered as he dried himself off. He felt much better, now that he was rejuvenated... he felt that his skill had improved as well... significantly, ever since he had survived the duel with Kylitos and the battles afterward... but he decided not to mention that.

"We also have new clothing for you, as your older uniform was tattered. However... as far as your tail goes, we have not been able to regrow it." The doctor handed him his coat and his neato clothing as he meandered on.

Manta grinned. "Don't worry about the tail." He swiftly dressed himself, clasping his rapier briefly before making to leave.

Kelne sighed, "No offense, Justin, but if history has taught us anything, it's that sending the kid through first is inviting trouble. I'll go." So saying, Kelne walked over to the infernal contraption and took a seat.

The more observant among the group might have noticed that the number of minions present had gone up a bit, with the new arrivals bearing positive numbers on their badges. Many of them were engaged in discussions on the relative merits of shovels and nets.

Justin coughed slightly. "Right. First off, that chair's less dangerous than it looks. We had some transporation technology left over in the airship, and the Minions managed to blunder their way into a few antiquated Earthen designs... and, well, that's the result. I'd like to say I've seen worse, but I really haven't."

Noting that the Minion count had risen since he had begun speaking, he sighed slightly and looked to Janda. "He has a point. Let him go. We'll all take our turn."

He turned to Kelne. "Very well!" He motioned to one of the Minions... he couldn't be sure about which, anymore, given that more were arriving by the second... but he did indeed motion to one of them. The Minion nodded, and rushed over to Kelne, adjusting the straps and tightening them over his legs and arms. The final step was a collander type helmet on the head. Kelne got the distinct feeling that he looked like an idiot sitting there... and he did!

"Now. This may sound ridiculous, but this must be done. Please twirl yourself around in a complete circle."

-

Manta was on his way back towards his pod as he went through the immensely fun process of pondering his next move.
I need to return to that world and kill all of them! No... I should go to Kamek and see about getting those Crystals...

It was as he thought that he stumbled into a someone! This someone snorted contemptuously as Manta glared. This someone was some sort of bird type person, complete with a multi-colored beak.

"Toucan." Manta growled. "What the hell do you want?"

"It seems a lot of you fencer-jin are being knocked off, here and there!"

"Feh! Scrum was asking for it. And Escrime was a chump. I'm good enough to represent my kind!"

"Lord Asrico certainly didn't think so... he was going to reprimand you for not buying groceries at one of the Asrico-brand grocery stores until a comment of yours reached his attention..."

"What?!"

"The crystals! Apparently, you found out that there were crystals on the planet Kamek. Now he's gone out of his way to find them! Perhaps with them he'll finally cement control of the universe in his hands."

"What the? Damnit! I'm not going to let him do this!" Manta charged off, now, passing out into the space port and jumping into his pod.

"Lord Manta, wait!" A few minions attempted to stop him, but Manta had already set his pod to take off.

Kelne regarded his counterpart with a black look, "Ah, the wonders of modern technology," he said, twirling once around irritably, "If the words check, this, and out are involved anywhere in this procedure, words will be said."

Why was it that any item of high technology he encountered seemed to be designed by a complete madman? Then again, the majority of such items had been designed by the Infinity Corporation. And this one by minions, apparently. It occurred to him that this really didn't bode well for him...

"Don't give them ideas, Kelne." Justin flatly responded as Kelne went about the process of twirling in a circle. He looked perfectly ridiculous, doing this in an already ridiculous-looking chair...

What occurred then was an odd process. For precisely a single moment, Kelne was electrocuted, and beamed up like a lightbulb. His hair burned a tad.

It was then that he disappeared!

He found himself reappearing on what appeared to be a pristine planetoid of some sort. What physical structures there were (which mostly seemed to be a few random platforms and columns) were mostly obscured and overthrown by various types of plantlife and grasses. The style was strikingly similar to what one may find in an area long abandoned by humanity, and left to the laws of nature.

Upon appearing here, Kelne found that he was no longer in the chair. Though he hurt a bit, it was better than being strapped into that chair any longer. Looking around would reveal Justin's airship not too far off, having set into landing mode.

Next to Kelne's position were two coffins and a number of chairs. Within one coffin lay Etrech. Within the other coffin lay Astrynax. They appeared to be in a rather horrible state... the state that they had been in upon dying, it seemed.

And it was as he stood here that a small girl with a robe of some sort approached him. "Hello, Mr. Kelne... you remember me, don't you? My name is Cara.

... your 'brother' asked me to help him set up things here. If you have any questions, you can ask them..."

Back on Gaera, Justin looked to the rest of the crowd. "All right, who's next?" He seemed to look towards Maxwell, specifically, who had remained in the same mood the entire time he had been there. "If you aren't too busy being livid, you can go ahead."

~

Asrico had been preparing to leave for planet Kamek ever since he had heard that comment from Manta on that one pissant planet. It was now, as Toucan informed him of Manta's apparent desire in the crystals, that he simply smiled.

He wore what appeared to be a trenchcoat of some sort. His hair was rough, brown, and scruffy. His face was scruffy with stubble. His pants bore red hot flames. And he had a stick of some sort 'sheathed' behind his back.

"Oh my god, I'm laughing out loud! That stupid little noob Manta wants to play with my crystals, does he? What the fuck? Honestly, oh my fucking god, what the fuck is wrong with him?"

Toucan cleared his throat. "Erm... Lord Asrico..."

"I'm rolling on the floor, laughing my ass off here! I'll show that noob the meaning of a good game!"

"... Lord Asrico..."

"Shut the fuck up! What the fuck is it, you newbie?"

"Uh... perhaps I can follow after him... and show him not to disobey your Lordship's orders?"

"Why, I was talking to one of my soldiers the other day about how his GM level was a million levels below mine... about how he could maybe make a planet explode, but I could make a solar system explode..."

"Yes, I know, Lord Asrico..."

"And then I reminded him about how I could transform into another character role and make my GM level even higher... and then he started crying, or something. What a stupid newbie."

"... Lord Asrico. Can I please just /go/?"

"Oh! Shove the fuck off, noob."

Toucan saluted and ran off, grumbling about his terrible luck, and how he wished he had stayed on with his gay uncle on Planet SATAM.

"Cara," Kelne said by way of greeting. He took several steps to the side. He wasn't entirely sure what would happen if someone were teleported into the same space he occupied, and he wasn't particularly inclined to find out. Of course, the machine might be set to avoid such occurrences, but why take chances?

"I suppose my first question, as it so frequently seems to be, is where are we?" The place didn't seem familiar to him, and could potentially be almost anywhere.

"Oh." Cara replied flatly, looking about slowly. "This is the Watcher's Planet. It is the world that both my grandfather and me live on. It's from here that we observe many, many things, but you know about that already." The girl looked around slowly. "We would have done something, but we aren't supposed to get involved. I broke a few rules when I saved Janda some time ago... I don't wanna do the same again."

She sighed. "Otherwise, we might be able to be more helpful with finding Manta... or reviving them." She indicated the coffins. "I'm sorry."

~

Speaking of Erech, he would find himself feeling oddly solid all of a sudden. Things, surely, had only grown worse after his death, as everything that had happened since had mostly been a confusing blur.

But... he was finding himself suddenly... solid. And fuzzy. He almost felt as if he were alive!

He felt a small amount of weight on his head, and he could note that there was a halo floating there.

The planet he was on seemed to be a small green pastured deal. Nearby, there was a small, capsule-shaped house of some sort. Next to the house was a 1980s-era Earthen-styled car. Said car was on a road that seemed to stretch around the planet. There was also a tree with a monkey in it.

Kelne shrugged, "In my experience, Astrynax is quite capable of bringing himself back from the dead. So presumably there's some other reason for us being here. Let me see if I can sum up the situation - this fencerjin thing, a product of the Infinity Corporation, is going after some source of absolute power or other. Once it has it, it will seek revenge on us all for vaguely defined reasons. Am I getting warm?"

Somehow, he doubted that this particular Infinity creation would have come up with an original plan.

"No, you see... there's been a problem with that. My grandfather and I have gotten into some limited contact with the Elements... and apparently, not even they can do anything about it. We're not really sure why...

Mr. Justin did want to arrange a meeting concerning what happened to them, and why they're dead...

As far as what's happening... you're almost right, but not quite... the fencer-jin are... or were, more or less, a heavily genetically modified labor class belonging to the Infinity Corporation. I believe they were supposed to be along the lines of the Androids, but they were held back by the fact that they were mortal.

... most of them are dead now... I don't really like to say much, so ask Mr. Justin when he gets here. He knows everything..."

With that, Cara wrung her hands slightly. "Would you like to take a seat? Or maybe talk to my grandpa? I think everyone else will be getting here soon?"

Janda glanced at the chair again. "I-I'll g-g-go n-next..." She proceded to spin in a circle (Not that it was as embarassing for her as it would be for others), and took a seat. "Wh-whenever y-you're r-ready..."

----

Erech stood and rubbed his head, but not before trying to swat that halo away. "...Where in the blazing blue hells am I?" He scowled a bit, looking around. Letting his eyes settle on the monkey, his jaw dropped a bit.

There are a lot of things you expect to see when you're presumably dead.

Justin sighed again. "No, no... see... you have to be in the chair before you spin. Hoy, Minions. Help her out with the last part, won't you?"

This time, two minions came and strapped Janda into the seat. Said seat was distinctly uncomfortable, but the straps weren't too tight. Everything was going fine until...

"Boss!"

"What?"

"She's too short for the noodle bowl!"

And, indeed, the collander-type helmet could not reach onto Janda's head, who was far too short.

Justin went about sighing again. "Why didn't you Minions think of something to make that helmet extend?"

"Well... we didn't have any trouble with the Rabbit."

"And yet you can't do it to a little angel girl."

"Nope! ^_^"

There was much annoyance. Perhaps someone could offer a handy solution?

~

The halo stayed where it was. Apparently, it was stuck there.

The monkey looked at Erech slowly, and then jumped down from the tree.

"Ook ook ook", it went, and it appeared to wave its bum at Erech as it meandered away elsewhere.

It was about this time that Erech became aware of someone else waking up next to him. A quick glance would reveal an MCF of some sort, only cooler. The hood was actually down, the face was out, and the eyes were slowly adjusting to the sight of it all. And yes, he had a halo, too.

"... what the hell?" Astrynax muttered.

It was as they sat there that a certain being in black robes approached them. His antennae twitched as he looked them over, adjusting his glasses.

"... just think of it as a helmet, Janda." Justin sighed. "How nice of you minions to be so short-sighted. Does anyone have a few books that Janda can sit on? Or anything of the like?"

~

"Well... yes, you're dead. His name is Astrynax, he is also dead. I am not. I'm a God." The blue man looked somewhat puzzled. "How could you forget that you died? You exploded!"

Astrynax coughed slightly. "Yes, I'm ASTRYNAX, not Asteroid or whatever idiot name you spouted out. But just what the hell is going on here? If we're dead, why are we here? Goddamnit, I was supposed to come back! I have a connection to the Elements!"

"Stop your whining." The god frowned. "And stop screaming. I can't help that you two got yourselves killed, there. Now, if you want to know HOW you died, or HOW you can get back to life, I suppose I could help you..."

"What's keeping the others, anyway? Does the infernal transport device have a history of exploding after use or something?" Kelne's voice clearly indicated that he didn't really believe in that possibility, but had just thrown it out as a worst-case scenario.

Cara reached down and picked up a small globe of some sort, previously unseen by the Kelne.

She looked on and sighed slightly. "It seems that the Minions failed to make the helmet stretchable. Janda is too short for it to reach, and it looks like Mr. Justin is very annoyed. It hasn't exploded, yet... that's good. I hope."

Justic isn't Maxwell's favorite person right now, so he'd normally be much less inclined to help out! However, with Erech and associated hanging in the ballance... He removed his trench coat, and began to fold it up.

"Karin, I'm going to borrow your coat for a minute..."

And he did borrow hers and fold it up as well, and he handed them over, so they now had two roughly thick-book sized objects!

Justin took the coats. "This will do. You have my appreciation for being more useful than anyone else who has arrived thus far."

Justin went through the process of removing Janda, setting the coats, and having Janda get back into the seat. Lo and behold, the coats boosted Janda up to helmet reaching level! The Anti-Kelne firmly nodded. "Much better. Now, Janda.Try to spin in a circle again."

~

The God looked at the two on the ground. "So! Would you like some information, or shall we begin your training? You're already dead, so you have plenty of time for both..."

Once Janda had been set into the chair, the spinning began, and Janda was shortly thereafter teleported to the Watcher planetoid, albeit with a few singed hairs.

Maxwell was handed his coats and told to take the trip next. He found himself appearing on the planetoid upside down, causing anything that was not strapped or tightened onto his body to clatter downward.

Karin was next, and her result was being teleported inside Erech's coffin, with the smoked corpse (obviously) inside. Cara hurried to let her out and apologized as much as she could for the little 'accident'. "You know how Minions are... at least, I'm guessing you do..."

Kyle and Paper were last to go, but not before Justin took them aside for a brief chat. "Kyle, I do hope you don't have any immediate plans. While I have my doubts for the rest of them, you may be needed for what I have planned."

With that, Kyle and Paper were next to go, and their result turned out to be Kyle and Paper briefly switching minds. It only took a moment for the minds to return to their normal bodies, but it disoriented the both of them to a terrible extent.

Back on Gaera, Justin looked to the Anti-Minions and nodded. "Once I depart, hide this seat somewhere... anywhere that you can remember. All right?" He didn't have much faith in the minions, but he had a brief hope that they would be able to accomplish a simple task.

The anti-minions nodded affirmatively, and Justin took the spinning trip. He landed stylishly next to Cara and Kelne, having somehow managed to avoid teleportation molestation.

Maxwell stands, dusting off and growling. He began putting his coat and guns back into their appropriate places, and didn't have much nice to say... but he was speaking! Something nasty sounding, in Valthi.

Janda looked around the planetoid- The last time she had been here, it...It hurt her mind to think about it. She couldn't remember what happened when she was here last. Just that she was...Instead, she focused her attention on the girl whom she knew she had met before. "H-hello, C...Ah...Er...Carmen?" She made a face, making it quite clear she couldn't remember the girl's name at all.

Cara nodded. "Almost right... it's Cara." She smiled a bit, possibly to give the impression that she didn't mind. "How have you been? I get the feeling you've been rather busy."

Justin was going about setting Karin, Kyle, and Kelne into separate seats, as well as keeping an eye out for the Minions. He seemed a bit weary as he did this, either due to work done before hand or simply due to retreading the same material in his mind.